Basket



(mmel') E. H. EAR-GRAVE.

BASKET.

No. 592,778. Patented Nov. 2,1897.

NITED STATES ATENT Enron.

EDWARD H. HARGRAVE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CINCINNATI FOLDING BASKET COMPANY, OF OHIO.

BASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 592,778, dated November 2, 1897. Application filed May 4, I896. Serial No 590,105. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEDWARD H. HARGRAVE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Baskets, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to baskets, its object being to provide a cheap and serviceable knockdown basket for ordinary use adapted to be packed into a small space for-transportation and storage.

To this end the invention consists in a basket embodying a collapsible body and a pivoted hail, the side armsof which are extended into struts to engage the bottom and expand the body,'in combination with automatic locking devices to retain the bail and rim of the basket in proper engagement when the basket is open and adapted to be readily disengaged and permit the bail to be oscillated into the plane of the rim and inclosed within the same.

My improved basket is illustrated in the accompanyin g drawings, in which is shown, in-

Figure 1, a general perspective view of the basket open and expanded for use; Fig. 2, a view of the same collapsed ready for package or transportation. Figs. 3 and 4: are detail perspective views of the two clips constituting the locking device in connection with the pivot. Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the basket, showing construction of the looking device and the relation of the bail-struts and bottom.

Referring now to the drawings, the basketbody A consists of a continuous rim 0, and bottom a united by a web of textile material Q The bail B is pivoted to the arm a at each side by pivots p, and B has its armsextended into struts b b, which when the hasket is expanded, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, engage against the bottom 01, and hold the same downward against the residual elasticity of the web a The fastening devices are located at the pivotal engagement of the bail B with the rim to, the general function being that of a catch or bolt to automatically engage the bail B and rim when brought into the position indicated in Figs. 1 and 5 and so retain them until released.

sponding plate or clip C is provided for the bail B, having a tongue i, turned outward at the lower end, adapted to engage the recess 2?, Fig. hand vertically-elongated slot 0 at the center. This plate is turned backward at each side and fitted into corresponding recesses in the edges of the bail, to which it is secured, preferably, by a couple of pins or rivets so. When the bail B is in place, the pivot 19 extends through the slot 0 and a corresponding aperture in the bail and is held by an enlarged head p at the inner side of the bail B. When the bail B is thus fastened to the rim, it may occupy two positions in relation thereto, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. In the first of these, in which the side arms of the bail are perpendicular to the rim, the ends of the bail rest upon the bottom of, and an upward pressure of the bottom, caused by the elastic tension of the covering material a holds the tongue 25' in the recess 25. In

lieu of the elastic resiliency of the covering material, however, I may give the terminals b a slight inward bend at the bottom and avail myself of the resiliency of the terminals themselves to produce the same resultnamely, of holding the tongues t in its recess 15, thus locking the bail in perpendicular relations with the rim a and holding the body of the basket distended. To disengage the lock thus produced, it is only necessary to de' press the bail in relation to the rim sufficiently to enable the tongue t to clear the recess 25, when the bail may be oscillated into the position indicated in Fig. 2, lying within the rim a. The bottom a may then be brought up to the same plane, being enough to fit within the rim and between the terminals 19, by the folding of the cover a When the basket is suspended by the bail B, the tongue t is held in the recess 25 and then securely locked, the tongue 15, together with the pivot, being the elements by which the Weight is sustained. The bot-tom of the basket is in this construction left entirely free of any fastenings or other obstruction.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a knockdown basket of the character indicated, the combination of a pivot plate or clip having a recess at one edge attached to the rim, and acorresponding pivot-plate having a tongue turned outward at one edge attached to the bail, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. Aknockdown basket, embodying a body portion consisting of a rim and bottom con- 

